Federal Judges Anonymously Criticize Supreme Court

Judge not, lest you be judged . . . by your fellow judges.

Rogue activist judges are criticizing the Supreme Court for overturning nationwide injunctions and ruling in favor of the Trump Administration. Apparently, they just didn’t feel strongly enough to include their names or faces when they attacked the high Court.

As reported by Fox News:

A group of anonymous federal judges is criticizing the Supreme Court for overturning lower court rulings and siding with President Donald Trump's administration with little to no explanation, NBC News reported Thursday.

NBC spoke with 12 federal judges, appointed by Democratic and Republican presidents including Trump, who pointed to a trend of lower court decisions being overturned by emergency rulings from the high court. These cases often see prominent members of Trump's administration lashing out at lower court judges before their cases are overturned.

Ten of the 12 judges argued the Supreme Court should offer more explanation when overturning such decisions, saying emergency rulings in such cases imply poor work on the part of lower court judges.

So we have a bunch of judges effectively saying, We don’t like that the Supreme Court is overruling our rulings. How dare they? Our partisan rulings are being overrun by their partisan rulings.

In other words,12 federal judges are anonymously airing their grievances, so to speak, and saying that they don’t like the “shadow docket” of the Supreme Court.

However, despite its name, the “shadow docket” isn’t something sinister. It’s an emergency docket used when the Justices are out of session. This allows cases to still be brought before the Court on an emergency basis.

These aren’t full rulings on the merits of a case – they’re temporary stays to keep a lower court from halting a federal policy or program before the case is fully argued. Think of it as hitting the “pause button” until all the facts are on the table.

But these clandestine judges – though we could probably guess which side of the aisle they favor (or which U.S. President appointed them) – are claiming it’s dangerous when Supreme Court Justices have the nerve to do what they are constitutionally authorized to do. Even an Obama-appointed judge admitted in the interview that “Trump Derangement Syndrome” is real– and that many judges allow their personal dislike of the former President to cloud their judgment.

As my brother, ACLJ Executive Director Jordan Sekulow, put it:

These are lower court judges, often handling cases that may never even reach the Supreme Court. That’s the first problem. The second is that while the Supreme Court can overturn them, the real issue is that these judges are blocking policy before the facts are even heard. The Justices are saying, You made this decision that’s going to stop a national program from going into effect. . . . . Why don’t you hear the facts first before you issue a preliminary injunction – a nationwide injunction – that is unconstitutional.

So the lower court judges are basically saying, You took our power away to act like a Supreme Court Justice.

Sorry, district court judges, we respect your work. You do a lot of the groundwork and the trial work – the hard work that goes into the legal profession. But this anonymous group is just wannabe Supreme Court Justices. That’s why they didn’t put their name on it. If they did, they’d never be a nominee to a higher court. They certainly would never make it to the Supreme Court. They think they know better than the nine Justices appointed by the U.S. President.

Bottom line: The nine Justices – whether you agree with them all the time or not – are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. They are the final arbiters. District court judges, as valuable as their work is, don’t get to function as mini-Supreme Court Justices issuing rulings for the whole nation. It doesn’t matter what they think – that’s not how our system works.

Today’s Sekulow broadcast included more discussion on the anonymous criticism against the Supreme Court by lower judges. We also discussed the potential crime-crackdown in Chicago, where President Trump has made it clear he’s ready to send the National Guard in, despite the protests of its leadership.

Watch the full broadcast below: